G. Lippert - James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper

"I'm not part of a revolt," James said, panting. "I was just… er…"

"You are indeed revolting," Slytherin growled, slitting his eyes, "but only because of your dirty blood. How dare you cross into these halls, Muggle?"

James felt an angry response welling up in him, but with an effort of will, he quelled it. "Sorry, sir. I was… lost."

Slytherin leaned toward James, using the grip on his wrist to pull him close. "You dare look me in the eye as if you believed me an equal?" Slytherin hissed. "The soft hearts of my fellows have bred insolence in your kind, but I will not have it. You will address me as 'Master', and you will avert your eyes, or I will have them for my collection. Is that clear, son of dirt?"

James used Slytherin's grip as leverage, pulling himself to his feet. When he was upright, he yanked as hard as he could, wrenching his wrist from the wizard's grasp.

"Blimey," James said angrily, "the history books sure got it right about you."

Slytherin's eyes blazed and his expression turned wary. He reached for his wand with one lightning quick movement. James scrambled to find his own, but it was too buried under the ridiculous robe.

"Salazar," a voice suddenly called. Slytherin froze. James whirled around, thankful for the interruption. The woman James recognized as Rowena Ravenclaw had just walked around a bend in the hall. Her eyes were suspicious as she glared over James' head at Slytherin. "We've been waiting for you. The audience with Lord Maarten is begun. How much longer do you intend to palaver with this, er, young cleric?"

Rowena dropped her eyes to James and winked, unsmiling.

James turned back to Slytherin, who glared at him furiously. Then, suddenly, his face changed. He smiled indulgently and patted James lightly on the head.

"Run along, lad," he said in a singsong voice. "I'm sure we'll have a chance to finish our 'palaver' soon enough."

James stared up at Slytherin, thinking that the wizard might simply curse James in the back as soon as he turned away. Slytherin's expression didn't change, but his eyes hardened. Go now or face the consequences, the eyes seemed to say. James risked it. He turned and walked as quickly as he could, taking a corridor at right angles to the one Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw occupied. It curved to the right and met a short flight of stairs. When James reached them, he looked back. Slytherin was no longer visible. Breathing yet another sigh of relief, James took the stairs two at a time.

As he navigated the corridors, he could still hear the echoing clatter of the kitchens. He had to be very near the rotunda. Nothing looked familiar however. Torches flickered and sizzled in great iron wall brackets, making shadows leap on the walls, disorienting James. He passed more people, some of them no older than he was, and assumed he was encountering some of Hogwarts' original students. They turned as he passed, their eyes curious or outright suspicious. He began to panic. Finally, as James passed a pair of older boys in green tunics, he turned, meeting their stares.

"Sorry, I'm new here," he ventured, trying to keep his voice even. "Do either of you know where the rotunda is?"

"What might you need in the rotunda, boy?" the taller one replied, showing his teeth in a parody of a charming smile. "You must know that it's time for Alchemy class."

"Perchance he doesn't know," the second boy said, his brow lowering. "His garb tells me he is a Muggle interloper. Lost, are you?"

"Or perhaps not," the darker boy suggested, advancing on James. "Perhaps you are up to something a bit more nefarious? Methinks the Head of House shall be the judge."

"No, no," James cried, throwing up his hands. "I think I've already met him! He, er, says hello!"

James spun on his heels, tripping over the oversized robe. The two boys advanced on him. One of them reached for the hood of the robe, but James finally got his footing. He lunged away, yanking away from the boy's grasp.

"Capture him!" the darker boy ordered, giving chase.

James bolted down the corridor, his heart pounding. He turned at random hallways, leaping up short stairways and ducking into doorways. After one turn, he encountered an alcove with a statue in it. To James' amazement, it was the statue of Lokimagus the Perpetually Productive. Without thinking, James shimmied into the alcove and hid behind the stooped statue.

His pursuers' footsteps echoed closer. They clattered to a halt directly in front of the statue.

"He can't have gotten far," the darker boy barked. "You go on ahead. I'll double back and make sure we didn't miss him. That Muggle brat will pay for crossing the path of Slytherin House."

James held his breath until he was sure they were gone. Finally, he clambered out from behind the statue. He checked both directions, and then darted out into the corridor again. He hoped desperately that he wouldn't encounter any more students. If he got caught now, he might never make it back to the Magic Mirror; he'd be trapped in ancient Hogwarts forever.

James crept around a large archway and gasped. There, across a broad marble floor, were the gigantic statues of the founders. He'd made it back to the rotunda! He could see the glint of the silver-framed mirror behind the statues. James trotted across the floor as lightly as possible, determining to go back through the mirror now even if Merlin was still in his office. He'd have to take his chances with an angry Headmaster and hope he'd give James a chance to explain himself. This ancient world was just too dangerous to muck about in.

Even as James was thinking this, however, something began to move from behind the statues. Someone had been standing in their shadow and was now coming out as if to meet him. James tried to stop, to duck into another hiding place, but there was nowhere to go. It was already too late. Salazar Slytherin grinned wickedly at James, triumphant. He had his wand in his right hand and carried something under his left arm. It was covered in thick black fabric.

"Imagine meeting you here, my young friend," Slytherin said smoothly. "You know, I'm beginning to think you aren't a Muggle at all. I'm beginning to think you are a spy. Very tricky of you, travelling via Mirror. I had made the mistake of believing that was impossible."

James shook his head, "It's not what you think! I just need to—"

Slytherin's voice turned icy. He held his wand up but didn't point it at James. "I can promise you one thing, though, my young friend," he said, turning, "I will not make that same mistake twice."

A bolt of white light shot from Slytherin's wand. It struck the silver-framed mirror, which exploded into sparkling bits. The pieces flew between the stone legs of the statues and pattered to the floor.

"No!" James cried, dropping to his knees. He reached for one of the shards, but it was no use. The tiny fragment showed nothing meaningful. The portal was destroyed.

"They say it's seven years bad luck to break a mirror," Slytherin commented lightly. His footsteps crunched on the bits of broken glass as he walked toward James. He grinned maliciously. "I guess that just shows what they know, doesn't it?"

James scrambled away from Slytherin, struggling to extricate his wand from the oversized robe. Slytherin stepped casually after James, shaking his head in amusement. As James finally found his wand and pointed it, the bald wizard was already flicking his. There was a sharp crack and James' wand flew out of his hand. It clattered several feet away.

"I'd thought that I was one of but two men in the earth who knew the ways of the Mirrors," Slytherin said, still advancing on James. With a deft flourish, he pulled the black cloth off the object he'd been holding under his arm. It was another mirror, small and oval-shaped, its golden frame fashioned into the shape of a coiled snake. "This one is particularly interesting, especially to someone in your predicament. No, I'm sorry to say it isn't a portal. It's a bit more… one-way."